5.  The applicant was born in 1956 and lives in the village of Ramon in the Voronezh Region.
6.  At around 6 p.m. on 23 August 2004 the applicant was on his way to a grocery store. According to him, he did not feel well and sat down on the steps of a local canteen.
7.  Police officers from the Ramonskiy District Department of the Interior for the Voronezh Region (“the District Department of the Interior”) who were patrolling the streets, having apparently taken the applicant for a drunkard, approached him and invited him to follow them to the District Department of the Interior’s building.
8.  The applicant having refused, they forced him into their car and then brought him to a cell in the District Department of the Interior’s building which was used as a sobering-up centre. Upon admission, the applicant was diagnosed by a nurse as suffering from alcohol intoxication. It appears that the applicant spent a few hours in the cell, loudly demanding his release and even trying to force the door open with a wooden bench. He also sought access to his lawyer and a doctor.
9.  Some time later a paramedic crew arrived but refused to examine the applicant, having allegedly been offended by his rude words and behaviour.
10.  The applicant’s stay in the sobering-up cell was documented in the District Department of the Interior’s records as having lasted from 8.20 to 11.40 p.m. on 23 August 2004.
11.  At around 10 p.m. the applicant was taken outside from his cell.
12.  According to the applicant, when he came out of the District Department of the Interior’s building into its internal yard, a police officer walking behind him struck three blows on his ribs. The applicant turned around and responded by hitting the officer’s face with his fists. In the ensuing fight, the officer in question was joined by his colleagues and eventually prevailed. Together they forced the applicant on to the ground and kicked him for some time. It appears that as a result the applicant passed out.
13.  The applicant was then placed in a temporary detention ward at the local police station. The Government submitted a charge sheet confirming his administrative detention at around 11.50 p.m. The applicant’s subsequent calls for a doctor throughout the night remained unanswered. In the morning a paramedic crew arrived. Apparently, they examined the applicant but did not detect any traces of injuries and soon left. The applicant submitted that the paramedic crew had again refused to examine him and that the so-called examination had not been proper, as the nurse present had simply looked at him from a distance.
14.  On the morning of 24 August 2004 at around 10.30 a.m. the applicant was brought before Judge P. of the Ramonskiy District Court, Voronezh Region (“the District Court”) in connection with his allegedly rude behaviour and the use of offensive language in the sobering-up cell at the District Department of the Interior’s building. The judge decided that the applicant had been liable for the administrative offence of minor breach of the peace and gave him an oral warning.
15.  After the hearing at the District Court the applicant was released.
16.  The applicant apparently failed to bring any appeal proceedings in respect of this decision and ten days later after its notification on 29 August 2004 it came into force.
17.  This decision was subsequently quashed on 10 March 2005 by the president of the Voronezh Regional Court as inconsistent, unjustified and poorly motivated and the related administrative proceedings were discontinued as time-barred. The president of the Regional Court noted that some important documents had been missing from the case file concerning the matter.
18.  Immediately after his release at around 11.00 a.m. on 24 August 2004 the applicant went in person to the Ramon District Prosecutor’s office for the Voronezh Region (“the District Prosecutor’s office”), which referred him to a local hospital for medical examination. The applicant was given a handwritten referral letter by an acting district prosecutor, N., which directed the applicant to undergo a medical examination in a local hospital.
19.  On the same date at 11.30 a.m. he was examined by a surgeon from a local hospital, and on 25 August 2004 by a dentist and an otolaryngologist. According to the applicant, his blood was also tested for alcohol with a negative result.
20.  The applicant’s medical condition on 24 August 2004 during his visit to the surgeon was described in a medical report of the examination as follows:
“During the examination by a surgeon, the existence of numerous injuries on the top of the head, subarachnoid haematomas measuring up to three cm in diameter, three bruises on the face, scratches on the nose ..., a dark brown bruise measuring three to five centimetres on the side of the neck. On the back of the neck, a brown bruise of two to three centimetres; on the front of the right shoulder, a dark brown bruise measuring four to seven centimetres. On the surface of the ribcage, multiple scratches with bruises, concentrated mostly on the left side of the central collarbone line. On both forearms more than ten bruises and scratches. Scratches of up to two to four centimetres in the area of the elbow on both sides. On the back side of the rib cage and the back of the knee five scratches of up to three to four centimetres. Bruises in the lower area of thighs and shanks ...”
21.  An additional entry in the applicant’s medical file dated 25 August 2004 stated that the applicant had suffered “a closed fracture of the nose without splintering”.
22.  Since the applicant did not feel well, on 26 August 2004 he went to a forensic-examination bureau in the town of Voronezh for an examination. The applicant was examined there and also referred to a specialised department of the Regional Hospital.
23.  A medical report dated 26 August 2004 essentially confirmed the applicant’s condition as already described in the report of 24 August 2004, having identified the same injuries in more detail.
24.  On 27 August 2004 the applicant appeared at the Regional Hospital, which was unable to conduct the necessary tests on that date and invited the applicant to return on Monday, 30 August 2004. On that date the applicant was identified as being in need of urgent treatment. He was hospitalised in the neurosurgical department of the Regional Hospital with concussion and remained there until 13 September 2004.
25.  On 15 September 2004, two days after his discharge from hospital, the applicant went in person to the District Prosecutor’s office and registered a complaint of ill-treatment during his detention on 23 and 24 August 2004.
(a)  First round of investigation
26.  Following a preliminary inquiry, on 24 September 2004 investigator S. identified officers E. and O. as suspects and then took a decision to discontinue the proceedings in relation to the applicant’s complaints for the lack of evidence of any crime having been committed.
27.  In the course of the proceedings investigator S. collected statements of various police officers, including those who had brought the applicant to the sobering-up cell, those who had guarded that cell, those who had escorted the applicant to the temporary detention ward, as well as the medical staff who had been called to examine the applicant’s condition on that night. All of them, except for officers T. and S., denied any knowledge of the fight mentioned by the applicant.
28.  As regards the latter two, in a statement dated 3 September 2004 officer T. also mentioned the use of physical force – as well as special techniques – “to calm the applicant down”. In a statement dated 3 September 2004 officer S. mentioned the use of physical force in respect of the applicant during that night because the applicant had allegedly “used offensive language, had acted aggressively and had wanted to hit him and his colleagues on the face”.
29.  The investigator did not make any additional inquiries into the episode mentioned by officers T. and S., nor ordered medical examination of the persons allegedly involved.
30.  Having mentioned the parts of statements of various witnesses in which all of them had confirmed the applicant’s detention in a sobering-up cell, but had denied that the fight described by the applicant had taken place, the investigator then stated as follows:
“Taking into account that there exists sufficient evidence showing the lack of any crime ... it is decided to discontinue the proceedings accordingly.”
31.  On 29 November 2004 the Deputy Prosecutor of the District Prosecutor’s office quashed the decision of 24 September 2004 and remitted the case to the investigator for additional examination. The prosecutor noted that the decision of 24 September 2004 had been incomplete and superficial, in that no evidence had been taken from two witnesses who would have been present during the applicant’s admission to the sobering-up cell, as well as his former fellow inmates.
(b)  Second round of investigation
32.  On 1 December 2004, after additional inquiry, investigator S. again took a decision to discontinue the investigation for the lack of evidence of a crime. It appears that the decision now took into account the evidence given by additional witnesses, such as the applicant’s former fellow inmates.
33.  Having mentioned the parts of statements of various witnesses in which all of them had confirmed the applicant’s detention in a sobering-up cell, but had denied that the fight described by the applicant had taken place, as well as the statements of the applicant’s former fellow inmates who had not confirmed the presence of injuries on the applicant’s body, the investigator made the following conclusion:
“... Thus, according to witness statements at the time of the [applicant’s] detention in the [police station] the applicant had no injuries. And his allegation that the injuries were inflicted during the detention is not confirmed by any evidence. The statements of the medical staff ... are confirmed by the entries in the record of the emergency service ... Entry no. 3620 dated 23 August 2004 reflects the examination of [the applicant] and a diagnosis: alcohol intoxication ... no need in medical treatment. Entry no. 3623 dated 24 August 2004 reflects the examination of [the applicant] and a diagnosis: chronic bronchitis originating in asthma. There is no information about the presence of injuries on [the applicant’s] body.
In view of the above, there is a sufficient data indicating the lack of crime ... and the proceedings should be discontinued.”
34.  By a decision of 5 February 2005, the District Prosecutor quashed the decision of 1 December 2004 as incomplete and superficial and remitted the case to the investigator for additional inquiry. The prosecutor noted that the alleged fight and the issue of the origin of the applicant’s injuries remained without proper clarification.
(c)  Third round of investigation
35.  On 15 February 2005 the Deputy District Prosecutor took a decision to discontinue the investigation for the lack of evidence of a crime. The decision was essentially based on the same pieces of evidence as the previous decisions.
36.  The officers who escorted the applicant from the sobering-up cell to the temporary detention ward had been identified, but the decision did not address the applicant’s allegation concerning his fight with the policemen and the previous statements of the policemen mentioning the use of force. The prosecutor reasoned as follows:
“... the allegations that the injuries were inflicted by the policemen of the [local] police station, as described by [the applicant], remained unconfirmed in the course of the investigation. Thus, according to witness statements and other materials, during the [applicant’s] detention at the ... police station there were no injuries on his body .... The statements of the questioned witnesses are credible and coordinate well among themselves, which is why there is no reason to doubt them.
Overall, the investigation was unable to obtain any data which would confirm that the injuries in question were inflicted on [the applicant] by policemen ... E. and O., who had escorted [the applicant] from the sobering-up cell to the temporary detention ward. In view of the above, there are no signs of any crime in the actions of E. and O. ... and the proceedings should be discontinued.”
37.  The applicant appealed against the decision of 15 February 2005 before the courts under Article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, contesting the established version of events and pointing to its various inconsistencies and shortcomings in the investigative process.
38.  On 6 June 2005 the District Court, acting as a first-instance court, upheld the decision of 15 February 2005. The court decided that the investigation had been lawful and sufficiently complete to exclude the criminal responsibility of the police officers in question. The court noted, in particular:
“... During the investigation carried out on the [applicant’s] request ... it was established that on 23 August 2004 [the applicant] was arrested and detained in the [local] police station, where he was placed in sobering-up cell, and then an administrative case against him was sent for examination on the merits to the justice of the peace of circuit no. 2 of the Ramon District of the Voronezh Region.
In taking a decision to discontinue the proceedings, the deputy prosecutor concluded that no sufficient data confirming that any injuries had been inflicted on [the applicant] by officers E. and O. who escorted him from the sobering-up cell was obtained.
The [applicant’s] arguments that this decision was unlawful remained unconfirmed...”
39.  The judgment was upheld on appeal by the Voronezh Regional Court on 16 August 2005. The court noted that:
“... The reference to the erroneous assessment of the evidence in the case by the [prosecutor] is insufficient to quash the judgment... [T]he investigator checked and assessed the existing evidence in the case in accordance with the requirements of [the domestic law], having considered as trustworthy the statements made by the [policemen] and the [medical staff] and having rightly rejected the [applicant’s] version of the events, concluded that no crime had been committed by officers E. and O. ...”
40.  On 6 November 2008, following notification of the present case to the respondent Government, the Voronezh Regional Prosecutor’s office applied for supervisory review of the judgment of 6 June 2005 and the decision of 16 August 2005.
41.  One 8 December 2008 a judge of the Voronezh Regional Court examined and rejected the appeal as unsubstantiated. It was noted that:
“... The arguments that in taking the relevant decision no account was made of the presence of injuries on [the applicant’s body] are insufficient to quash the decisions of the lower courts, since the previous check failed to substantiate the version that the injuries in question had been inflicted as a result of violent, unlawful and intentional actions of the policemen. There are no reasons to consider that the check was incomplete. In the course of the examination of the case by the first instance court [the applicant] had failed to discredit the existing witnesses, including those who were not policemen. No such arguments were made in the present appeal either...”
42.  In addition to the court proceedings in relation to the events of 23 August 2004, the applicant also took part in a series of unrelated proceedings against various State bodies and individuals.
43.  He brought a set of civil proceedings which ended with a final judgment of the Voronezh Regional Court of 22 November 2001 and was also unsuccessful in two sets of court proceedings, in which he had sued different individuals and bodies for damages, which ended with final decisions dated 14 September 2004 and 21 October 2004.